


In Paradisum

by Jericho_Pryce



Category: Teen Titans (Animated Series), Teen Titans (Comics), Teen Titans - All Media Types, Teen Titans Go!
Genre: Action/Adventure, Epic, Multi, Mystery, Original Character(s), Romance, Television, science-fiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-21
Updated: 2017-08-11
Packaged: 2018-05-28 02:53:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6312520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jericho_Pryce/pseuds/Jericho_Pryce
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Teen Titans have returned to Earth after a diplomatic mission to another planet has gone awry. With them arrives Raziel, a survivor of that planet's conflicts, and the team's newest ally. Soon, ghosts from every Titan's past reveal a crisis greater than anyone could have imagined. As they face new challenges and form new relationships, the team finds themselves fighting in a conflict spanning time and space, one that threatens not only Earth, but everything in existence. </p><p>Episode 1: Arrival</p><p>Wherein the Titans make a crash landing, and a new ally named Raziel is welcomed to Earth.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Introitus

_It is raining._

_He is running faster than he ever has in his life. From up above him, twin moons cloak the night in a faint, misty pink glow. Darting through the alleyway, his feet hardly touch the ground beneath him, or so it feels as as he ducks and weaves between piles of garbage and dank, rotting crates.  His lungs burn and his muscles ache with every stride he takes._

_As he nears the turn at the end of the alley his foot catches a stone, and he almost crashes headlong into a stinking pile of trash. An automatic jerk of the dark wings jutting out from his back and through his tattered shirt quickly balances him out, but it’s a close call. If he were to fall now, he doesn't know if he could stand back up. He bites his lip hard enough to draw blood.  Five seconds to rest, nothing more.  He has to keep moving. He has to_

(Raziel!)

_find her. Risking a peek over his right wing, he gazes through the shadows of the murky midnight moonlight, and he sees nothing._

_He can_ hear _it though._

 _It is distant enough, but through the patter of the rain and pulsing of the blood in his own skull he can just barely make it out: The faintest echo of footsteps, somehow growing louder,_ closer, _despite their methodical pace. He curls his wings around himself, enveloping himself in shadow. He keeps moving. Still, despite how fast he runs, despite the pounding in his head and the ragged rush of air filling and fleeing his lungs, he can still hear those footsteps._

 _He can still hear_ it.

 _The swift knocking of sole against stone is growing  louder, growing closer, and all he can picture is that terrifying figure cloaked in sullen red_   _. Its single tattered wing, like pure midnight, jutting from its back. Its hollow, sunken eyes.  And that blade that he carries, so smooth and sharp as it grins in the moonlight._   _No matter what happens, he cannot let that thing get near him._

_Or her._

_He comes to a fork in the alleyways and hangs a sharp left. Even in the dark he knows these paths, he_

(you have to-)

_could travel them with his eyes closed.  Soon he catches sight of it: the faded red door of the inn, lit aglow by window's dim candlelight. He reaches for the knocker and pounds it as hard as he can._

_"Please!" he cries hoarsely, "Please, help!" The door opens, and the innkeeper's familiar face greets him, his features twisted in scorn._

_"What the hell do you think you're doing here?" the innkeeper growls, "Get lost! Now! I told her if I ever saw you again-"_

_Frantically, he pleads: "No! You don't understand, it’s about my mother, I have to find her, she-"_

_The old man laughs.  "She's gone looking for_ you _, eh? Now, If she's so desperate to take you back after what you've done, then fine. But neither of you will find a vacant room here. You understand?”_

_The bastard slams the door in his face._

_He screams, and he kicks at the old man’s door. He has no idea what to do. He racks his brain, trying to think of somewhere,_ anywhere, _he hasn’t already searched. Where would she go if she knew he had nowhere else to run?_

 _In an instant he realizes two things,and he can’t decide which one is worse: The first thing he realizes is that he knows_ exactly _where she is. The second: That the night is now completely still. Completely silent.  He scans the darkness, strains to hear, but there is nothing.  The_ thing _that has been stalking after him is gone. Perhaps he is gone._

(we must go!)

_He cries out suddenly as cold, dry fingers grasp the back of his neck. He can hardly turn his head to see its face, but even before he catches sight of its sickly white eyes, he knows exactly what’s come for him. It may have the figure of man, the taut leathery face of something that could almost be mistaken for a  person. But its eyes betray the truth._

_“Child,” it croaks._

_He struggles, thrashes, screams for help, hoping that even that drunken old fool in the tavern has heart enough not to leave a boy to die alone in the night. Nothing. No one. The only sounds that breaks through the night is the persistent patterning of the rain against the stone. They are alone._

_It leans up close to his ear. The stink of its breath is enough to make him want to vomit. He thinks he can even hear its skin crack as it grins, exposing a row of teeth that seem to shine in the corner of his eye. Everything he has seen of it has been ragged and wrong, but its teeth are brilliantly polished, almost as if they were brand new. And they were sharp._

_“Child,” it says again, “No more running. I have won our little game. You played well, yes, but I_ always _win my games. Now it’s time to help me win another.”_

_“Let me go,” he says, “Or I swear I’ll-”_

_It laughs a dusty, hideous laugh. It draws its blade to at his eye, sharp and sure of its prey, and its still laughing._

_“We can play a new game,” it says.  “While we wait for you to come around. It will be a good one. You know where she is. What say we see just how much I can carve out of you before you tell me?”_

_He can’t breathe. He can’t move. Were he to struggle forward even an inch he would find himself short an eye, or worse. He fumbles and stutters as the creature holds him closer._

_“The night grows old child, and I grow bored. I will give you a few seconds more, and then I will start cutting.” He is terrified, more so than he has ever been. He cannot speak. He will not betray her to this thing. He would rather die than-_

(Robin and the others are-)

_A flash. A howl. Rage. It is hurt.  He stumbles as well, falls to the ground, blinded by the brilliant light. Another roar, and then a voice. Not the creature’s. Hers._

_Its her!_

_“One more step and you die,” his mother says._

_He has never heard her say anything like that in his life. She sounds so cold. His vision is clearing, and he scrambles to his feet. The creature is hunched over on the ground, a viscous black fluid gushing from where one of his eyes was once held. He is convulsing in pain,. he is standing there above him, facing the thing with her hand outstretched to it, fingers pointing accusingly and bathed in a soft red glow._

_It staggers to its feet, one hand clasped against its bloodied face and the other brandishing the blade._

_“You,” it says, grinning again. “This is good. This is fun.” She stands her ground, her face betraying neither weakness nor fear._

_“What is it you want?” she saks._

_“You know what we want,” it says._

_“Why? After all of these years, why now?”_

_“You should know the answer to that as well.”_

_He has absolutely no idea what is happening. He can’t being to understand what this thing wants with his mother. Or how she seems to know so much about it. How she seems to have been expecting it._

Mother, _he thinks._ What are you?

_“You’re right” she says to the thing, “I suppose I do know the answer.” She lowers her arm, and the red aura surrounding it fades away. The creature cocks its head, in same way that animals do when they're confused. It takes a step towards his them, and then another, the knife inching ever closer to his mother’s frame. He wants to lunge at the thing, to take its head in his hand and rend it from its shoulders. He readies himself to do just that, but his mother locks eyes with him over its shoulder, and  that stony unfamiliar glare freezes him in his place._

_“I’ve hidden it, you know.” she says. “Even if I wanted to help you, I-”_

_“What you want doesn’t matter,” it says. “We will get what we need from you.”_

_It happens so fast  that she doesn’t even cry out.There is a lunge, and the quick, sharp thrust of its wrist. She collapses to the ground. The creature tosses his blade aside, mutters something as it turns away._

_He hears none of it.  His feet come unglued and he’s running towards it, roaring towards it. He will kill it. He will kill it. He will kill it a thousand times over. He will dig into its gaunt flesh and spill its black blood, again and again, until there is nothing left but a stain, a whisper of whatever it might have once been. He is barreling towards it, his wings and his arms outstretched, every part of him clawing after it, begging to-_

(Raziel)

_It is gone without a sound. It did not run, and it certainly could not fly. There wasn’t a cloud of smoke, or a flash, or anything. It simply vanished away into nothing._

_He stumbles and collapses to the ground again. He’s right at her feet, crying and gasping for air. He thinks he hears something. A stirring. Alive? Yes! She is okay, she is going to be okay!_

(please!)

_She is soaked with blood. It is gushing from the jagged hole in her stomach and turning her once vibrant dress into a crimson rag.  Her eyes are open, and she is moving just a little, but she is fading fast. He crawls to her, cradles her head in his arms. It’s his fault, he knows that. He ruined their home, he brought her out into the rain. He was stupid, he got caught. He wants to say something to her, anything that could possibly make this okay._

_“Momma,” he says. She looks at him, and smiles weakly._

_“I’m so sorry,” she says, which doesn’t make any sense. How could she be sorry for what he had done to her? There is_

(no time, there’s-)

_so much he doesn’t understand. He bends as close to her face as he can without hurting her._

_"I love you," he says._

_"I know," she says. His eyes meet hers and she grasps his hand tightly._

 

(Raziel

you

have

to)

 

_She says, “There is something I need you to do."_

_She says, "Listen:"_

 

(“Wake

 


	2. Episode 1: Arrival (Part 1)

_**Landfall** _

 

up!”

Raziel awoke, and for a single panicked moment did not know where, or even _when,_ he was. It was blinding bright all around him, and all he could hear the clank of crash of metal on metal, the spaces in between filled with the distant growl of a howling engine. Disorientation pooled in his skull. His sense of the present was clashing stubbornly with the lingering

 _(I love you._ _  
_ _I know.)_

remnants of his dreaming.

He grasped instinctively at his chest, feeling for the pendant he always wore there. He calmed, a little, at the cool touch of it’s golden chain around his neck. He held the stone that hung from it tightly in his palm, and his eyes began to adjust to the light. Slowly, the suffocating _realness_ of his dreams faded, giving way to the here, and to the now.

It was no longer night. It was not raining.

There was someone standing above him. It was a familiar figure, tall and thin with golden skin, and a delicate face framed by long, fiery hair.

"Starfire," he said. The figure smiled, in spite of the chaos clamoring all around.

"Raziel!" Starfire said, "Thank goodness! Quickly, we must go!"

Awake now, Raziel understood. He was on the ship, and by the looks of the strange mechanical instruments and piles of bandages that were spilling about in the spasms all around, this was the medical bay. Raziel rose as quickly as he could, swinging his legs around the bed a little too quickly. A sharp pain shot through his left arm and he staggered. Starfire caught him and steadied his balance. Looking down, Raziel realized that his left arm was covered in gauze. Worryingly, he could see it darken to a queer shade of crimson.

The sight of it brought him back momentarily to the night, and the rain. He felt dizzy, and Raziel could see the panic in Starfire’s eyes as he swayed. What had happened? The events of the past few days were still a blur in his head. He recalled screaming, and fire, and Starfire leading him onto the ship. He fell,  and then… blackness. Then the dreaming, then-

Then now.  That roaring pierced the air again, and Raziel braced himself as his bed and the floor beneath him shook and pitched again. He righted himself as quickly as he could before Starfire could move to steady him.

“Can you move, with your arm as it is?” she asked.

“Come on, Kori,”  he said. “As if a busted arm could slow _me_ down?” He flexed his arm a little, only to be cut off by another jolt of pain.  Starfire helped to balance him again. “See?” he grimaced. “I don’t think I would have even noticed I was injured if you hadn’t said anything.”

"Of course, how inconsiderate of me," she said, beckoning him  towards the door.  "Still, we must  hurry. The others are doing their best to land the ship but I do not know if-"

 _BOOM!_ Another violent upheaval, this one followed by an even more ominous and punctuating thud as something within the bowels of the ship fell into pieces.

"Ah," Raziel said. He nodded in readiness to his friend, gently clasping her hand as she led him to the others.

* * *

They navigated the tight hallways of the ship as quickly as they could, doing their best to keep from knocking into the walls with each heave and ho of the craft. Raziel still felt weak, and the violent churnings of the ship were becoming more frequent.

 _If this keeps up_ , Raziel thought, _I’ll be unconscious again before too long._ Starfire must have been thinking the same thing, as she stopped for the fourth time to look back and make sure he was keeping up. Raziel gave her his best crooked smile to reassure her, though it seemed to only worry her more.

_Just like old times, I suppose._

After a minute they finally  reached bridge, where the other four were scrambling to right the ship’s course. From out of the viewport that made up the bridge’s entire front end, Raziel expected to be greeted by the star-pocked darkness of space. Instead, he found himself gazing at a planet, one smattered in a  vivid collage of whites and greens and blues. It took a moment for Raziel to realize this was earth. The jagged swathes of green and brown were land, all of it surrounded by what must be an ocean of water. _Blue_ water.

For some reason it was that fact that stuck the most in Raziel’s gut. It wasn’t just the fact that he was trapped in a glorified metal carriage that was simultaneously on fire and plummeting towards almost certain doom. That _was_ bad, to be sure, but what struck Raziel as especially unsettling was the fact that they were trapped in a glorified metal carriage of fire and certain death that was hurtling towards a world with a _blue ocean_ . It was simply _too_ absurd.

The shriek of the engines  pierced the air, accompanied by the cacophonic chorus of a dozen alarms going off at once.

 _"_ I take it those sirens are a bad sign, yes?" Raziel said.

At this the others in the bridge finally turned to the two of them. Standing to the left of the center, the younger, green-skinned boy greeted them with a wry grin.

"Rip Van Winkle's finally awake!" Beast Boy said, offering nervous chuckle in spite of the circumstances.  Raziel didn’t get the joke. Beside the green one, another boy sat in the pilot’s seat, his free hand dancing about the dashboard and flipping switches like mad as his other gripped the flight controls.  This  was Jericho, who, unlike Beast Boy, offered neither a backward glance nor a greeting as he silently and furiously managed the helm. Raziel wouldn’t have taken offense to, this even if they _weren’t_ all about to die. Jericho wouldn’t have been able to utter a greeting even if he wanted to.

The other boy beside Jericho did turn, however. This was the one whose authoritative features showed no signs of faltering under the threat of imminent doom. On the contrary, he seemed quite at home in the chaos.

"It's about time you got out of bed!" Robin said. Before Raziel could come up with any kind of retort, Robin had already left his seat and moved to Starfire.

“You’re both okay?” he asked, and Starfire nodded.

“Raziel is still recovering from his earlier injury,” she said. “Should we not be making evacuation preparations?”

“We would be,” Beast Boy said, half-shouting over the din, “Except the three escape pods exploded ten minutes back. They’re nothing but space dust now!” _That explains the explosion from earlier_ , Raziel thought. Though he was mostly ignorant in the ways of spacecraft, he had enough experience to know that the escape pods exploding was a decidedly bad turn of events.  Robin apparently noticed Raziel’s concern, and firmly clasped both Raziel’s good shoulder and Starfire’s.

“Don’t worry,” he said, “We’re working on a backup plan.”

“I thought the escape pods kind of _were_ the backup plan?” Beast Boy said. Robin shrugged, as if to say _“True.”_ It was difficult to read Robin’s face under the strange little mask that covered his eyes. Raziel couldn’t tell if Robin was genuinely confident, or if he was simply pretending that he was genuinely confident.

"Raven!" Robin cried out above the noise, turning back towards the dark haired girl who sat cross-legged and eyes closed in the middle of everyone else. "Raven, can you slow us down at all?" The girl lifted only one of her ash-gray eyelids at this, giving Robin and the others a of stoic irritation. She silently resumed her meditation. Inky black tendrils began spilling forth from every side of her; they seemed to be both darkness _and_ light, made of something and nothing all at once. Raziel had witnessed her powers a few times before, but it never ceased to send a small chill down his back, a whispering of unease.   The aura grew brighter, _thicker,_ spreading until everything around the bridge looked coated in a film of tangible shadow. For a moment the ship grew calm. The alarms were still blaring, but the engine's thunder had faded, and the floor beneath their feet steadied. Raziel stole a glance out of the viewport. The portrait of the planet’s surface had grown alarmingly large in such a short collection of moments, but their mad descent seemed to have stalled. Raven's features were trembling as she sat, though otherwise she was a still as stone.

"Holy crap, guys," Beast Boy said, heaving a heavy sigh of relief. "She did it. She actually-"

Raven suddenly cried out, and the energy surrounding her faded in an instant. There was a small _WHAM_ somewhere in the ship's hull, and then another dull explosion. All at once the engine, and the ship it powered, resumed its furor..

"I'm sorry," Raven said, sweat dripping from her forehead as she fought against her rasping breath, "If I'd had time to prepare, maybe, but right now I can hardly slow this thing down, let alone stop it."

"Don't worry," Robin said, "You did your best.  Jericho will be able to get us out of this. Right?" He looked back towards his friend. Jericho smiled nervously and offered silent thumbs up.

Without warning, the ship rolled to the left, hard. Raziel was slammed into the wall; he cried out as he hit his bad arm. Starfire and Robin were both tossed to the ground. In spite of the pain, Raziel reached out his good arm to Robin, who clasped it tightly, in turn hoisting up Starfire to her feet as he rose. Raziel chanced another look at the viewscreen. His gut tightened. He could just make out the gemstone shimmer of what must have been the cityscape that lay just at the edge of the shore. Just then, the viewscreen cracked and fizzled to black. The bridge was awash with the glow of the blood red emergency lights.

Jericho unclasped his harness and sprung up from the controls, waving and pointing towards the stern of the ship. His lips were mouthing a single word over and over, and though Jericho had no means by which to actually speak, Raziel understood perfectly.

_Run._

"We need to get to the back!" Robin said. The others wasted no time in jumping from their seats. Beast Boy, Jericho, and Raven took the lead, with Robin and Raziel and Starfire just behind.  At the end of rear passageway there was a large and lit door marked EMERGENCY EXIT. The door itself was useless, but the handles hanging from the walls were not. Wrapping his good arm around one of them, Raziel felt a sudden a rush of vertigo.

"Raven, now!” Robin yelled.

Raven let out a determined yell as her black aura shot up before them all. Raziel felt like he was being smothered and stretched apart at the same time. Once again, without thinking, clasped at the pendant around his neck. It’s piercing red hue seemed so bright in darkness.. Raziel had time for one final thought,

( _There is something I need you to do)_

and then there was nothing, save for  the rending of metal and glass against the rushing of water as the ship collided with the ocean.


	3. Episode 1: Arrival (Part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I normally try to save Author’s Notes for the beginning or end of an arc, but this Pilot chapter is going to be longer than most, so this is a good a time as any to drop in. I know it's been a long while since my last update, but I have a few chapters already done, so now it's just a matter of whether I post them all now or give a little break in between them.
> 
> “In Paradisum” is a story I’ve been working on for a very long time, and I’m excited to share it with you all. Think of it as a television series that you read, with the chapters’ structure and pacing resembling that of a multiple-seasons long show.
> 
> Before we go too much further into this tale, it should be mentioned that this story takes place in an alternate universe of sorts. Some things from the original show are still in place, but a lot of backstory and character development are being reworked for this incarnation of the Teen Titans. The characters should feel very familiar, but there will be plenty of surprises for people that loved the original show/comics as much as I do!
> 
> Last but not least, if you like what you read, or if you have feedback to offer, drop me a line in the review section. I would love to hear from you!

 

**_Welcome to Earth_ **

Raziel tasted salt water.

He sat up,  spitting water and brushing off bits of metal and glass, ready for the next disaster. But there was none.  Raziel was soaked, but the water  around him was remaining at a steady ankle deep level.  The entire ship swayed, but with a gentleness that was seemed almost comical, given what they had just experienced. Sparks flew from the wires and panels that were jutting about from every angle of the ship, but the acrid stench of smoke burning metal was already beginning to fade. The emergency light blinked on and off with a barely audible clicking sound; otherwise the air was relatively still. They were floating. They were alive.

That was good.

Starfire, Robin, and the others all sat similarly scattered throughout the main hall of the ship. Everyone was alive, and conscious.  Nobody spoke. There was respite to be had in the quiet. Looking down at his arm, Raziel saw that his bandages torn and soaked through with seawater, stained with splotches of blood throughout. Although whatever medicine the others had given him was keeping the bleeding to a minimum, it wasn’t quite enough to prevent a sharp stab of pain from hitting him as he steadied himself upright.  

“Are you okay?” Robin said, breaking the silence at last. Raziel nodded.

“Oh yes!” he replied. “Very exciting stuff, quite suspenseful. Do you provide this kind of experience for everybody you bring to Earth?”

“Nah,” Beast Boy said. “Just the ones we like. We went through six or seven of these guys in rehearsal, you know.”

“Well, I am honored!” Raziel said, giving a little bow with his good arm. “And I have to say, it paid off. For a minute there, it really _did_ feel like we were all going to die.”

“That’s the magic of theater,” Robin said, grinning wearily.  “You can’t ever say that the Teen Titans don’t put on a good show.” Raziel had to laugh a little at that. He most certainly could not say that.  Robin reached behind his back and procured a small silver cylinder that, with a click and a _whoosh_ , extended into a long staff. Using it for balance, he slowly pulled himself up to his feet. Surveying the others, and the general state of the ship, he nodded in satisfaction.  “You see?” he said, not just to Raziel, but to everyone. “I told you guys: Backup plan. Never doubt the backup plan.”  

“Yes!” Starfire said, hopping up with her usual chipper smile, “Everyone is safe and in one piece! It is most fortunate.” She seemed remarkably unphased by what they had all just collectively survived, though Raziel wasn’t surprised by this. He knew that in spite of her sunny disposition, she was made of incredibly tough stuff. All of her people were.

“Speak for yourself,” Beast Boy whined, steadying himself with a twisted chunk of wall. “I don’t know if I’ll ever recover from this traumatizing experience! Look at my poor foot!” Everyone looked down, confused, and saw Beast Boy’s familiar purple sneaker which, while tattered, seemed no more worse for wear than anyone else. “It’s my ankle, guys!” he said. “It hurts, like, bad! I think it’s broken!”

“We just fell almost two hundred miles trapped inside a three hundred thousand pound bucket. On fire. Into the ocean.”  Raven said this in her usual, vaguely irritated monotone. She stood and brushed off her cloak with the composure of someone who had just suffered little more than an embarrassing fall. “You should count yourself lucky.”

 _She  might give Kori a run for her money,_ Raziel thought.  There was a loud grinding sound, followed by a dull _clunk_ and the hiss of escaping air. Raziel looked and saw that Robin was working the escape hatch just above them, and before long he was pushing the hatch up and out. Brilliant sunlight came spilling into the ship. Robin inhaled deeply as a tangy, pungent wind followed suit.

“Home sweet home!” Robin said. He proceeded to climb the short ladder to the surface. “Come on everyone! We can at least dry off while we wait for the rendezvous.” Raven shrugged and followed him to the surface. Beast Boy was next; he whimpered theatrically with every other step up. Starfire stepped over to Raziel and extended her hand to him.

“Shall we greet the sun?” she said. It was a Tamaranian salutation, one Raziel had heard many times before.

“Only if the sun is ready to greet us,” he replied. They both laughed at the familiar joke. He took her hand with his good one and stood, carefully, wary of the steady pitching of the ship.

“Is he coming?” Raziel asked, nodding to Jericho. Starfire glanced to Jericho inquisitively, and the boy replied with the swift motion of his hands and silent partings of his lips.

“He says he still has other things to check on in the ship,” she told Raziel. “He will meet us soon. Come!”  She moved towards the ladder, but Raziel hesitated. He had no idea what was waiting for him up beyond that tiny little doorway. What kind of world lay waiting for him. He had heard all about this planet, this Earth, but never in his life had he thought he’d ever actually have to leave his home, to cross the cosmos themselves, and _be_ there. It was a lot to take in. Too much. It still felt like a dream, in spite of  everything that had happened.

Dreams, though, could be denied. Gone, like a wisp of smoke upon, waking. Raziel knew that to go out of that hatch and into their world, to breathe their air and be warmed by their sun, was not something that could be undone. It would be real. There would be no waking up. No going back.

 _Still,_ he thought, _anywhere has to be better than this deathtrap._ He gave Jericho a small wave and then turned to his smiling friend.  

 “Let’s greet the sun,” he said.

* * *

Emerging from the darkness, the mid-morning light was almost blinding. The warmth of it felt fantastic on Raziel’s salt-soaked skin. If this life he had woken up into really was real, it was at the very least a warm one. Looking up at the sky, Raziel saw that it was also the bright, starkly clear blue of the ocean that reflected it. When they were hurtling towards it from a hundred thousand miles up, the blueness of the water had seemed somehow very wrong.  Right now, it actually felt a little charming. Weird, but charming.

The ship was floating rather serenely in the middle of all that water. There was endless sea stretching out in almost every direction, save for one; In the distance, some miles away, Raziel could just make out what almost resembled a mountainscape jutting out of the earth, though one that shimmered and sparkled in the sunlight.  Raziel realized that they were buildings, hundreds of feet high, made from metal and glass. Beast Boy had shown him some films and other bits of culture Earth, so he knew about gargantuan expanses of Earth’s cities. On the screens of the ships it had all still felt a little fantastical. Now, even though it was barely close enough to see, Raziel felt well and truly impressed by it. They tallest of the structures were called skyscrapers. As Raziel stretched out his cramped and aching wings, he found himself feeling kind of giddy as he fantasized about the kind of flying he could manage from the tops of them.

“Ow ow _ow_!” Beast Boy hissed from a few yards down. He was sitting with his injured foot outstretched in front of Raven while a small aura spilled from her fingertips and onto his leg.  “You know, Raven,” he said, “I think maybe I’ll just let it heal up on its own. It wouldn’t take more than what, one or two wee-“ Beast Boy was cut off by the audible pop that sprang out of his ankle and his eyes widened in surprise and pain. “Dammit, that hurt!”

“Quit being a baby,” Raven said. “Be glad it was just sprained and not totally snapped in half. I’m good, but I’m not _that_ good.”

“Oh yeah,” Beast Boy said with a scowl, “You’re good. You’re great! You should win a Nobel Prize for your sensitivity and kindness.  Maybe you’d get to have a party with  Doctor Whatshisname. The Nazi Guy.”

 _“_ Mengele?”

“Yeah, him! You and him would have an awesome time together!” From out of nowhere a wave rose up, tinged with inky black, and soaked Beast Boy from head to foot. “Dude,” he said, defeated.

Raven turned and walked towards Raziel and Starfire, aglow in her own dark haze. It looked like she might be smiling, if ever so slightly. He watched as a the water in her hood and clothes came rippling straight out of the cloth into the air, hovering in a kind of liquid sphere for a second before falling to the ground.

“Thank you, Raven, for making sure we landed without any harm!” Starfire said, standing and picking Raven up in a vice-grip hug.

“Really,”  Raven said through gritted teeth, “It’s no big deal.”

“Yes it is,” Robin said, as he joined them. He was accompanied by Beast Boy, who was still limping along as if he had lost his foot completely, but that was probably to spite Raven more than anything else.  “We could’ve died, Raven. We _would_ have died. But here we are, all in one piece, thanks to you. I’d say that’s a pretty big deal.”

“The biggest of deals!” Starfire added, as Raven managed slipped away from her grip. The already dusky skin around her cheeks darkened ever so slightly. Raziel wondered if that was her way of blushing.

“If you’re going to thank anyone,” she said, “Thank Jericho. All I did was soften the impact; Jericho was the one that made sure  we simply crashed into the ocean instead of a mountain, or the city itself. ”

“Where is that mophead, anyway?” Beast Boy said, “It’s his turn to receive one of Starfire’s infamous thank-you hugs.”

“He is fetching something of importance from the ship,” Starfire said, “I’m not sure of what, though.” After a moment of thought she turned to Beast Boy with a scowl. “What _exactly_ about my affection is worthy of notoriety, Beast Boy?”

Robin rubbed his chin thoughtfully as Starfire continued staring down Beast Boy. “He must be looking for the black box...”

“What’s a black box?” Raziel asked.

“A kind of recorder beacon,” Robin replied.  “It keeps tabs a on the ship’s navigational and operational systems throughout its flight, and also serves as a distress transmitter and GPS in case of, well, something like this.”

“Pardon?” Robin tended to forget that, until quite recently, Raziel’s experience with spacecraft had been limited at best. He’d only ever seen the inside of one a handful of times, and he’d certainly never flown in one.

“He’s saying it will call for help,” Raven interjected. “It might even tell us why we ended up crashing the way we did.” Now that things had calmed down, Raziel realized that he hadn’t yet given much thought to actual cause of the  whole exploding spaceship scenario. Now that they weren’t all actively trying to outrace death, it seemed like something worth questioning.

“So you all don’t know the actual cause of the malfunctions?” Raziel asked.

“No,” Robin said. “After we got you on board and took off, everything was running smoothly. Well, as smoothly as it could be, given the circumstances. It was only when we got within range of Earth that things started going…”

“Insane?” Beast Boy said. “You were going to say insane, right? Because that’s sort of the vibe I got from the whole thing. Pants-stainingly terrifying also works.”  

Robin smiled, and shrugged. “Point being, it’s all a little fishy,” he continued.  “All of those explosions and equipment failures have to have some kind of source. I don’t know if it was some kind of FTL malfunction, or maybe some hull damage that the computer didn’t catch, or what.“

“Sabotage?” Raven said. Robin nodded thoughtfully and, as everyone considered it, Raziel had to admit that it was possible. Maybe even probable. The circumstances of their retreat from his home planet had been nothing if not chaotic. That someone could have intentionally engineered their crash landing was a disquieting thought indeed.

“The bottom line,” Robin said, “is that we’ll only really know more once we get back to shore and take this thing apart. The black box should point us in the right direction, provided it wasn’t destroyed in the crash.”

Just as Robin spoke, there was a loud, metallic _whomp_ sound, followed by a large duffel bag popping out of the main hatch and onto the hull. The bag was shortly accompanied by Jericho himself,  still soaking wet; his clothes and shaggy blonde hair were all stained with grease. He was holding a bulky orange cube that looked to be made of plastic. A number of metal ports and buttons decorated its sides, as well as a small, single, green lightbulb blinking on and off, repeatedly. He tossed the box to Robin.

“Very nice!” Robin said, and Jericho waved his hand in a tired gesture that said, “ _Don’t worry about it_. Robin looked the box over, carefully. “Is it in full working order?” he asked.  Jericho’s lips moved inaudibly as his hands twisted and waved into a variety of symbols. The others had called this mode of speech sign language, and Raziel understood absolutely none of it. He stood there rather awkwardly as the others watched, nodding in their understanding. Thankfully, Raven soon noticed, and provided a translation.

“He says that the box is damaged but still functional. He can’t tell from here what caused the ship to malfunction, though. The blinking light means that the ship’s SOS activated when the landing gear failed, so help should be arriving to pick us up.” The mute boy had turned a shade of scarlet, and he added an extra two signs.

“He also tells you that it is ‘his bad’,” Starfire added. “Though there is no bad to be claimed, Jericho! Raziel will soon learn the sign language himself.”

The boy extended his hand, and Raziel shook it gratefully. Jericho signed again with his free hand, and though Raziel knew a friendly greeting when he saw one, Starfire translated anyway.

‘Welcome to Earth,’ she said.

Beast Boy laughed. “Oh man,” he said, “We made it! We’re finally home! Thank you, God!”

“It isn’t home for everyone, Beast Boy” Raven said, nodding to Raziel.

“What? No, I didn’t mean...It’s just cool to be back, you know?”

“Don’t worry, Beast Boy, I know,” Raziel said. “I honestly can’t say I’m feeling terribly homesick, myself. Once you get up close, Earth seems pretty friendly.”

The green one smiled. “What I think’s in order is a welcoming party! We can introduce Raziel to the best Earth has to offer: Snacks, video-games, and old kung-fu movies!”

“Oh yes, that is a lovely idea!” Starfire said. “We can also show Raziel the wonders of Earth’s various flavors of soda!”

“A most excellent suggestion, Starfire. What do you think Robin?”

“I’ll blow up the balloons myself as soon as we get back to the tower,” Robin said. “Though first, we should take care of that arm.” He motioned to Raziel’s arm. He had started bleeding again, and the tears in the bandages revealed a large splotches of purple and brown bruises running up to his shoulder. The pain had gotten much more noticeable as the adrenaline from the crash had worn off. Every time Raziel’s heart beat his bones offered up a sharp twinge and sting in return.

“I can maybe set the bones,” Raven said, “It will hurt, and I can’t fix all of it, but it’s better than nothing.”

Before he could reply, a sound came cutting through the gentle rolling of the waves, a stark and mechanical growl against the wind that was growing louder by the second. Robin and the others turned to see what it was, and Raziel did too. He was greeted by the sight of two great black mechanical contraptions, soaring through the air at a great speed as twin circles of blades suspended them aloft.

“What are those?” Raziel asked, having to shout as the machines drew closer.

“That would be the welcoming party,” Robin replied.

One of the metal beasts spun about so to reveal a large opening in its side, filled with a half dozen or so strange looking figures, each clad head to toe in some kind of bright yellow protective gear; their faces were covered in dark visors. Judging from the looks on the others’ faces, Raziel guessed that this wasn’t the rescue that had been expected. The men carried a number of instruments with them, small screens and sticks with flashing lights that were reminiscent of the computers on board the ship. Raziel also saw that the strangers carried guns. These men were armed, and as they slowly approached the group Raziel realized they were aiming their weapons right at him.  

“Hold on guys,” Robin said, “There’s no need for-”

“Quiet!” one of the men cried, his voice sounding cold and aggressive even through the filter of his mask. He approached Robin with one of his scanners and ran it up and down the boy’s profile; a few of the others followed suit, the two men with guns never moving their muzzles away from Raziel. One of the men with shouted, “Clear!” and the group converged on Raziel.

Back on his home planet, Beast Boy had shown Raziel bits of films he’d brought from Earth to better explain the culture to him. One of them had been from something called _the Day the Earth Stood Still._ Though much of the jargon and context Beast Boy had provided didn’t make much sense to Raziel at the time, he had thought the story of an alien arriving on Earth to spread messages of peace rather funny, as if the humans thought all aliens existed to act as mentors to their species. What was happening now reminded him of the way the humans had arrived to greet their otherworldly guest, armed to the teeth with guns and vehicles of war. At the time, Beast boy had to sheepishly explain that that kind of attitude towards aliens was in the past, that Earth was very friendly towards aliens like him.

As the people approached Raziel with their guns aimed directly at him, Raziel was not entirely convinced.

“Now wait a moment,” Raziel said, “I think maybe-” He was cut off as one of the armed men grabbed at his raised arm and violently twisted him around, tying it and his broken one together with some kind of wiring. Raziel hissed in pain, his flesh still raw and throbbing.

“No!” Starfire said her eyes aglow with green rage. “He is not an enemy! You have no right to bind him!”

“Yeah!” Beast Boy said, “You guys don’t have to go all ET on  us!”

“We said quiet!” one of the masked men said, raising their gun to Beast Boy’s face. The small boy’s flesh twisted and bent to the sound of popping joints and creaking bones. In only a moment a large, snarling green tiger stood where Beast Boy had been.

“Titans, stand down!” Robin shouted. Starfire’s green aura dissipated from her eyes and her fists, and the furious tiger morphed back into an equally furious, but much less threatening, Beast Boy.

“But Robin,” Starfire said, “Do you not see what they are doing?”

“I do, Star, don’t worry,” Robin said. He turned to the man holding Raziel. “Miller sent you, right?”

“Our orders are to bring you in for debriefing, and to ensure that your guest here doesn’t contain any biological contaminants.”

“And all this tech?” Robin asked. “The machine guns? Was it really necessary?”

The man motioned over to Raziel. “The general takes extra-terrestrial security very seriously, especially when this one’s arrival violates pretty much every protocol you could think of for bringing an alien to Earth.”

Robin paused for a moment, and said, “Fine. We’ll go with you.” He looked to the others who, one by one, nodded in understanding, if not approval. He finally turned to Raziel, who was still bound, and still had a gun barrel pointed inches from his head.

“I need you to trust me on this, okay?” Robin said to him. “I know this looks bad. But I promise, everything will be fine.” Raziel said nothing. He looked to Starfire and, though she was obviously wary, she did her best to smile.

“Trust him,” she said.

Raziel turned back to Robin and responded with a short, curt nod. At this the men ushered the others towards one of the flying machines, with Raziel and many of the armed guards heading to the other. They kept their rifles pressed on his wings, prodding at him as he stepped on to the aircraft. Before long they were lifting off. The roar of the aircraft’s blades was deafening as it ascended. Nobody spoke, and Raziel watched as the remains of the ship slowly shrank away into the distance.

 _Welcome to Earth,_ he thought. 


	4. Episode 1: Arrival (Part 3)

**_A Warm Welcome_ **

Raziel had been sitting alone for what felt like hours. The room he was in was not dissimilar from the ship’s medical bay; the bed he sat on was hard and covered in a thin waxy paper, and all around him various machines whirred and clicked incessantly. The whole room was awash in the same harsh, too-white fluorescent glow that had lit the ship; Raziel thought it made everything feel sterile, strangely blank in a way that he couldn’t quite find the words for.  

A man had come in earlier, dressed in a long white coat with a paper mask covering his face. When Raziel had asked him to explain his situation, he had said nothing as he quickly and efficiently replaced the bandages on Raziel’s left arm and placed it in a sling. Before Raziel could thank him, the man produced a long, thin syringe from his coat and thrust it into his other arm, drawing up Raziel’s blood into a little glass vial.  Despite Raziel’s protests, the man swabbed the puncture, bandaged it, and left without a word.  

A few minutes later another person arrived, a woman this time. She had another needle with her, this time drawing blood from the thin skin of his wings. By the time a third person had come in and run another one of those scanning devices all across Raziel’s frame, he had given up on trying to strike up conversation.

Since then he had been alone, nothing but the electronic hums and whirs of the machines to keep him company. The light was starting to give him a headache. His clothes had been confiscated, and he had been given what amounted to little more than a thin plastic sheet to cover himself with, complete with sloppily cut holes in the backside of it through which his wings could awkwardly protrude.  He was cold, his body ached, and he was beginning to wonder whether coming to this planet was a terrible mistake on his part.

It was a faulty line of thinking of course. He had not had much of a choice in the matter, after all. He pawed absently at the spot on his chest where his mother’s pendant usually hung, only to remember for perhaps the third time in almost as many hours that it had been taken along with the rest of his belongings. He rapped his fingers anxiously on the metal frame of his cot; he could do without his swords, and even his clothes, but he was anxious to get that particular trinket back from these strangers.

Raziel also wondered what had happened to the others, and why the the people  that had come to their aid were so hostile towards him. The others had seemed upset when he had been taken from them to be put in this locked room, but not necessarily afraid or concerned. Of course, Raziel didn’t know how much of them had any cause to be concerned for him in any case.  He had gone through much with these Teen Titans over the past weeks, yet they still felt in many ways like strangers. Except for Starfire, of course. Beast Boy seemed nice enough, too.

If there was anyone he couldn’t get a handle on, though, it was Robin. The one who hid behind a mask every hour of every day, as far as Raziel could tell, who alternated between gung-ho enthusiasm and self-serious reserve in such a way that Raziel couldn’t be sure which version of Robin was genuine and which version was the facade of leadership. ‘Trust him’, Starfire had said. Raziel was beginning to wonder if he would ever see the payoff to that gamble.    

The door swung open, slowly this time. The man that entered seemed to be another scientist, though he lacked the scrubs and medical masks that veiled Raziel’s previous visitors. He wore on his face only a thin pair of wireframe spectacles, and he seemed to carry no other ominous tools with him. All he had was a clipboard with some paper attached to it. Still, Raziel’s wings tensed reflexively as this new stranger approached.

“I hope you weren’t planning on poking at me with another one of those needles,” Raziel said, “ because I can tell you I’ve had just about enough of that to last me a lifetime.” The stranger said nothing in return, though as Raziel spoke he began making more excited scribbles on his clipboard. He continued writing as he paced towards Raziel.

“Where’s Kori?” Raziel asked. The man proceeded to pull a small rectangular device from his pocket; it beeped and hummed lightly as the man observed it.

“Starfire, I mean,” Raziel said. “Where is Starfire? Or Robin, can I speak to him? If you’re concerned about-”

“A-ha!” The tiny light on the man’s device suddenly glowed a bright green, and the man clasped his hands in glee. He stuffed the device back into his pocket and continued writing excitedly on his clipboard. Finally, he raised his head and greeted Raziel with an unexpectedly exuberant smile. “No parasites!” he said.

“I’m sorry?”

“No parasites!” The man repeated, approaching Raziel more swiftly than before. “No laryngeal infectors, no airborne viral contaminants, and not a single trace microbial-fungal contact.” The man thrust his hand out to Raziel. Familiar with this particular greeting custom, Raziel  took the man’s hand and shook it carefully.  “I’m terribly sorry for such an...aggressive introduction to our humble planet,” the man continued, “But in this day and age, you can never be too careful when introducing an alien to our most foreign of shores. I am Dr. Varun Mittal, and may I be the first to welcome you to our humble planet.”

Now that Raziel and Dr. Mittal were face-to-face, Raziel noticed for the first time just how young this man was. The others that had come in to poke and prod at him were unmistakably adults, but this doctor’s thin frame and smooth brown skin held the features of a young man not much older than Raziel himself was.

“Thank you,” Raziel said. “I am Raziel. You say you’re a doctor? As in a nurse, or a healer?” Dr. Mittal chuckled at that, adding some more notes to his papers.

“Ah, well, I am definitely licensed to practice medicine, though my specialities really lie in advanced xenobiology and biomechanical engineering. Why, do you feel injured, or ill?” The doctor suddenly looked very concerned. In truth, after everything that had happened in the past few days, Raziel was surprised he didn’t feel _more_ injured or ill. Considering that only a few hours ago he had been plummeting into the ocean from space in a giant steel ship, he was suddenly aware of how lucky he was to only be suffering from a slightly busted arm and the low, dull throbbing in his head that was only just now beginning to subside.

“Ah, no sir,” Raziel said, “I’m feeling fine, except for the arm.    
Just trying to get a sense of things. Outside of some of the fictions I’ve seen from this planet, I have very little experience with doctors like...you.”

“Of course, of course.” Dr. Mittal said, smiling again. “Believe you me, from one alien to another, I understand the shock you must be going through. I’ll tell you now, my friend, that you’re in for quite a bit more of that to come.”

“Does that mean I’ll get to leave this place?”

The doctor laughed again. “Goodness, of course! S.T.A.R. labs may not have the coziest of observation facilities, but we’re certainly no prison! We simply needed to be sure that your arrival on Earth didn’t also mean the arrival of any xenobiological infections or contaminations. It’s standard operating procedure for situations like this, you understand.” Raziel didn’t understand, but that was becoming a more and more common occurrence for him.

“So when can I see them?”

“Well,” the doctor said, flipping through his notes, “That depends. The tests have all come back negative, which is a positive thing! Confusing, I know. But good! You seem to be in a fair enough physical state, but we generally require a three-stage screening process to detect any physical or mental compromises that might impede with your acclimatizing to our weather, our atmosphere, and our gravity, or our people. Not to mention all of the stresses that come along with the aforementioned culture shock....”

A burst of static suddenly filled the room. It was followed by a toneless voice, almost mechanical voice. “Doctor Mittal,” it said, “The general would see you both as soon as possible.” The doctor looked ever so slightly taken aback.

“It looks like all of that will have to wait,” he said, bemused.  “You’ll be seeing the rest of the Titans very shortly, after all. Follow me, please.” Dr. Mittal swiftly turned to make his exit, but Raziel hesitated.

“Sir,” Raziel said, “Would it be possible to provide me with my clothes, and the rest of my belongings?”

“Ah, yes,” Mittal replied. He looked slightly embarrassed. “Well, the cleaning and inspection procedures will have...well, we’ll have to see when we meet the general. For now I’d just recommend you keep the back of that gown tied tightly, though I promise it’s nothing anybody in the lab hasn’t seen before. That is, unless you’re a _real_ _xenomorph_!”  The doctor opened the door, laughing at his own joke, and turned the corner before Raziel could protest.

 _A xenomorph?_ If conversation on Earth was always this bewildering, Raziel was beginning to wonder if he wasn’t better off with the exploding spaceship.

 

* * *

The facility was a labyrinth of lights and shimmering metal. As Raziel and Dr. Mittal made their way through a seemingly endless sequence of corridors and laboratories they passed an equally multitudinous number of strange and fascinating technologies. Raziel was certain he didn’t know what any of it could possibly be used for, but he felt impressed and overwhelmed all the same.

The men and women staffed through the labs were all dressed in the same plain white lab attire, their uniforms featureless save for  the small blue patch stitched to their chests. It read: S.T.A.R. Labs. Some of the scientists wore the same kinds of paper masks across their mouths as did the ones who attended to Raziel earlier; in other labs, everyone wore helmets that veiled their features entirely. They all spoke with one another, murmuring softly over the dim electric humming that permeated the air no matter the room. Nobody said anything to Raziel, but he could feel their eyes following him, room after room. He felt naked, exposed, and not simply because he was _literally_ naked beneath the thin plastic veneer of his medical gown (though that certainly didn’t help). There was a nebulous kind of anxiety beginning to churn in his gut. He had felt the same way when he first laid eyes on the planet’s impossibly blue ocean.

“Oh!” Dr. Mittal stopped mid-stride and Raziel nearly collided with him.  The doctor turned, tapping his chin in thought as he turned his attention to Raziel’s bandaged left arm. “You know,” he said, “That arm is something we might be able to take care of, provided you’re willing to help us test out some unproven tech?” Raziel had honestly had quite enough of tech for one day, unproven or otherwise. Yet the pain in his arm had only gotten worse since they’d left the observation room, the consistent rhythm of stinging and pangs in his bones growing increasingly erratic, and ever sharper.

“You can fix my arm?” Raziel asked. The doctor grinned. Mittal led Raziel ahead, turning them through an automatic sliding door and into a room of pristine, glistening chrome and white, a smaller cousin to the larger laboratories they’d been passing the whole way.  They were greeted by a pair of women, each dressed in the same colorless attire as the other scientists in the facility. One of them looked to be about Mittal’s age, while the other was maybe twice that. The older woman wore her black hair long and straight, and her posture and gait spoke to Raziel of experience and authority. The younger woman wore her bright yellow hair cropped short, the edges of it streaked with pink and blue hues. She eyed Raziel with a grin, though he couldn’t tell whether it was a friendly gesture,  or a mischievous one.

“It’s good to see you, Varun,” the older woman said.

“And you too, Dr. Akita,” Mittal replied.  Dr. Akita smiled and  extended her hand, which Mittal shook his warmly. She turned her attention to Raziel.

“I see he’s been cleared for general exposure, then?” she said, furrowing her brow.

“Well, no,” the Mittal replied, “I mean, yes, he has been, we just have to push some of the post-screening procedures back. The general wants to meet with him, you see.”

“Nice find, Doc!” The young one said, pacing past Dr. Mittal and moving straight to Raziel. “Is this the one the Super-Friends brought along with them?”

“Ah, yes,” Doctor Mittal said, “This is Raziel. The Teen Titans brought him here from his homeworld, and we’re on our way to see the general for a debriefing as we speak. I thought, though, that I might bring him by here, since you two-” The young woman turned to him, her eyes widening in exaggerated surprise.

“Good Dr. Mittal!” she said, “Are you using him as a guinea pig for our A.R.E.S.?”

“Of course not, Dr. Novak! I mean, I _did_ know that you and Dr. Akita were exiting the final testing phase for the machine, and given that our guest has received less than charitable treatment so far, I thought it only right that I offer him the opportunity to receive medical benefits he might not otherwise have access to.” Dr. Novak laughed and clapped Dr. Mittal on his shoulder.

“Uh-huh,” she said, “Well, I’m sure our friend here is grateful for your generosity. Just like Dr. Akita and I are grateful to test out our equipment on a willing alien test subject.” Dr. Novak turned back to Raziel. “You _are_ willing?”

“I think so?” Raziel said. “I’m honestly not sure what exactly is to be done to me. What’s an Ares?”

“That’s Mittal for you,” the young doctor said, laughing again,  “He’ll give you an hour long lecture about fungal infections before he gives you his name.” She shook Raziel’s hand with an alarming casualness.

“Dr. Novak,” Dr. Akita interjected, “He hasn’t even completed the post-screening process, and you’re not wearing any kind of protective gear.”

“Goodness, Mai, he can hear you, you know?” Novak said. “If he’s okay to shake Mittal’s hand, then I say he’s okay. Besides, it’s not like he’s harboring a deadly space plague on his skin.” She turned back to Raziel. “You _aren’t_ harboring a deadly space plague, are you?” Raziel shrugged. Dr. Novak clapped. “Good enough for me!” She said. “My name is Becky Novak, and I’m partnered with Dr. Akita here. Please, just call me Becky! Dr. Novak makes me sound so _old_.”  

Dr. Akita sighed as she and Becky led Raziel to the contraption that took up a fair amount of the room. It was a large metal cylinder, covered in panels and buttons and lights that Raziel could not make heads nor tails out of. A smaller, spherical section was attached to the front of the cylinder, it’s metal layers humming and whirring in constant motion.

“This is the A.R.E.S.,” Becky said.  “It’s an acronym that stands for Ameliorative Response and Enhancement System. I came up with the name.” She sounded very proud about this part.

“What she’s trying to explain,” Dr. Akita interjected, “Is that this is a machine that facilitates and accelerates the repair of damaged bone and tissue, to a limited degree of course.” Raziel must still have looked perplexed, as Dr. Akita quickly added, “It heals you.” She and Becky began their work on the machine’s buttons and panels as Dr. Mittal carefully removed Raziel’s arm from its sling and slowly began to unravel it’s bandages. Raziel did his best not to grimace as he felt his bones grinding together at his elbow. Soon enough his arm was free again, and the spherical layers of the machine had twisted open, to reveal a glowing green core with an opening just in the center. It looked just large enough for someone’s arm to fit in.

“All you need to do,” said Dr. Mittal, “is place your arm into the machine, and Dr. Akita and Dr. Novak will take care of the rest!” Raziel eyed Mittal with caution. These three seemed trustworthy enough, especially compared to the shifty stares he’d gotten from the rest of the S.T.A.R. labs crew, but this seemed a bridge too far.

“You’re saying this will...undo my injuries?” Raziel asked.

“Yes sir,” Becky replied, “Unless your alien biology is way out of tune with ours. In that case, it might just melt your arm clean off.”

“That was a joke,” Dr. Akita quickly explained. “We have no reason to believe your biological makeup should impact the process. If anything goes wrong, we’ll shut it down immediately.”

 _How reassuring,_ Raziel thought. He didn’t say anything, though. These people were offering to help, and were being much more considerate about it than anyone else on this planet had been so far. If they wanted to hurt him, they probably would have by now.  Slowly, he straightened his arm and placed it into the A.R.E.S. Every slight knock against the cool metal of it was a lightning bolt shooting up his arm, but he pushed through it. At first he felt nothing, but as the humming grew louder he could feel his arm getting warmer. It was a difficult feeling to describe, for even as the warm sensation in his arm grew he began feeling oddly disconnected from it. The green glow of the sphere’s clore was growing richer and brighter. Beneath the whir and hum of the sphere he thought he could hear his own bones snapping back into place, though he felt no pain. After a moment, the sensation of warmth faded,  as did the din of the A.R.E.S. Raziel removed his arm, clenching and unclenching his fist. The bloody scrapes and cuts that had marred his flesh were nowhere to be seen. He rotated his shoulder and bent his elbow as smoothly and as flexibly as he ever had.

“Huh,” Raziel said. Becky clapped excitedly.

“Oh man,” Becky said, “That is wonderful! Did you get all of the readings, Mai?” Dr. Akita nodded, displaying the series of pages the A.R.E.S. was spitting out. “Good,” Becky continued, “This is great stuff.”

“Consider this a token of apology for the way S.T.A.R. labs handled your arrival here, Mr. Raziel.” Mittal clapped Raziel’s newly uninjured arm.

“Thank you,” Raziel replied. “I still don’t know if I understand what just happened, but I do appreciate the use of my arm again.”

“The machine uses nanotechnology coupled with enhanced biometrical mapping functions to-” Dr. Novak was cut off by that cool, mechanical voice issuing out from the ether again.

“Dr. Mittal,” it said, “General Miller is waiting.” Novak’s expression turned grim.

“Look’s like our science lesson will have to wait. It’s Miller time.” Dr. Mittal sighed.

“Yes, well, we don’t want to keep the general waiting. Come, Raziel, let’s go.” Raziel and Dr. Mittal bid the two women farewell and made their way out. As they went, Raziel regarded his arm again.

 _Maybe Earth won’t be so rough a time, after all,_ he thought. If the people at S.T.A.R. Labs were the kind that could mend charred flesh and cracked bones like magic, how bad could their General Miller possibly be?


	5. Episode 1: Arrival (Part 4)

**_The General_ **

“Try explaining it to me again,” General Miller said, “but this time, I would appreciate it if you got to the goddamn point.” Raziel stood awkwardly in the corner of the room, standing as silently and still  as possible while Robin did the talking. The general’s office was a far cry from the stark sterility of the medical facilities Raziel had just passed through. Though the room itself must have been fairly large, it felt positively claustrophobic. There were shelves of books, binders, and reams upon reams of loose paper stacked on every side of the room, with General Miller’s  with only a small window on the far side of the wall offering a bit of light. The rest of what little space remained in the room was filled out by the generals humongous wooden desk, behind which sat General Miller himself.

If he had been a smaller man this might have been comical, but Miller’s imposing frame seemed of a piece with his choice of decorum. There was only one other chair in the room, a small piece of metal framework attached to a pathetically flimsy looking piece of taut fabric. As soon as he had entered the room Raziel had noticed that Robin had chosen to stand, and Raziel understood instinctively that he would do well to do the same.. Back on his homeworld, Raziel had been familiar with just the type of man he figured General Miller to be, the kind who offered such niceties not as a reprieve, but as a test of mettle. To take a seat opposite this man would be to imply that you deserved a modicum of comfort, that you had earned the privilege of sitting simply by walking through the door. Raziel had only been on Earth for a handful of hours, and he wasn’t about to end his first day on a strange planet by garnering the disrespect of a man who obviously held a lot of clout, at least with his friends.

“My apologies, General Miller,” Robin said, adopting a formal posture and tone that was a far cry from the wildly grinning, almost theatrically headstrong person that had guided his team through disaster earlier that day. “It’s been a hectic day. I think we’re all just trying to get our heads on straight.” The general seemed to appreciate Robin’s deference, no matter how feigned it might have been; his shoulders eased up almost imperceptibly, and he uncrossed his bony, calloused fingers a bit as well.

“I appreciate that,” Miller said, “But the fact of the matter is that this whole thing has gone FUBAR. When a space shuttle comes careening out of the sky and very nearly lands smack in the middle of my city, it makes for panic. It makes for confusion. It makes for a hell of a lot of ringing phones and pissed off e-mails, and I bet you can guess who gets to respond to all of them?”

“I imagine that would be you, sir,” Robin said.

“Well it sure as hell isn’t Batman.” Miller eased back in his chair a little, shifting his glance over to Raziel, the first time his presence had been acknowledged since this conversation started, though he immediately switched back to Robin without so much  “And now we’ve got another goddamned refugee from space, which is honest-to-God the last thing I needed today. I know you capes like to make friends with every sadsack alien that you come across, but there are protocols that need to be followed. Paperwork and procedures and discussions with enough heads of state to make _your own_ damned head spin.”

“With all due respect, General,” Robin said, “Our mission _was_ a diplomatic one, and as representatives of Earth we made the decision to bring Raziel back with us when-”

“As representatives of Earth, your job was to go make nice with some alien politicians, take a couple of pictures for the kids back home,  and come back with some good PR. Your authority to make decisions began and ended with what time to meet King and Queen Vulcan for tea!”

“Kiridians, sir,” Raziel said. General Miller turned his gaze again to Raziel, this time locking eyes directly with him.

“What was that?” Miller asked him.

“My people are known as Kiridians, General Miller. Our planet is Kiridia. You used the term “vulcans”, which Beast–I mean, Garfield called me once when we first met. I’m still not sure what it means, but–” The general raised his hand to cut off Raziel’s rambling.

“What’s your name, again?” he asked.

“Raziel, sir.”

“That it, just ‘Raziel’? No last name?”

Raziel shifted uncomfortably. “I...have no family name. My full title would be Raziel of the House Darr’ak, Second Division of the Noble–”

Miller cut of Raziel once again. “You’re some kind of royalty or something?” Raziel couldn’t help but laugh a bit at this notion, but he regained his composure when he realized that Miller didn’t see the humor of his question.

“No, sir, not at all. I did help protect royalty, though. I served with the Palace Guard. Farren Darr’ak was my captain, sir, and a…” Raziel paused for a moment, unsure of what word he should use. “...a mentor, sir. I wear the name of his House and Sigil with pride.” Miller stared at Raziel for a moment, his furrowed brow giving Raziel the impression that he may as well have been speaking gibberish. After a moment or two, though, the General nodded in what seemed like satisfaction.

“A military man then, huh?” he said.  That wasn’t _quite_ true, but Raziel didn’t feel it would be wise to correct him.

“The situation on Kirida became very complicated, very quickly” Robin said. “Believe me when I say that everything that’s happened up to now was us making the best of a very bad situation.” The general's eyes narrowed.

“Does that include the destruction of a two-hundred million dollar space shuttle that the United States government helped build?” he asked.

“To be honest, we have no idea what caused the crash landing to happen. Everything happened too fast to make any sense of, and my priority was on getting my team back to Earth safely. I figured your men would be able to figure out what went wrong.”

“Predictable,” grumbled Miller. “The League is perfectly happy to have us co-sign the check that sends their junior league up into space, but when everything goes to hell we’re stuck cleaning up the mess.”

“General,” Robin said, “I’m sure that the Justice League would be more than happy to lend their expertise to the investigation. I’ve made arrangements to contact Batman this evening, so–”

“Save it, kid. I’ve had enough of you capes to last me all year. If I’m being perfectly frank, I think it's madness that we’ve even given you the go ahead to act as independently as you do. Destroyed spaceships, blown up buildings, an entire gang of kids running around my city playing dressup…” He eyed both Robin and Raziel with a look that was as exhausted as it was disdainful. “Anyways, the thing was so busted up it’s going to take my guys weeks to figure out whatever you all screwed up. I’ll be sure to send an invoice to your pal Batman when that happens.”

With this, the General stood, making his way around his cramped space with surprising ease and striding towards Raziel in just two quick, smooth steps. He looked him over in silence long enough for Raziel to feel the heat rising in his cheeks. Just as Raziel was getting ready to ask the general just what he needed from him, Miller turned back to Robin.

“The more pressing issue is your friend here. You know how fraught things have been since that business with the Lanterns and those Sinestro freaks. The refugee centers in Metropolis, Dallas, Denver, and Star City are overflowing. Technically speaking, he isn’t even supposed to leave this base for another week, and that’s assuming  these Kiruvians have a peaceful history with every single nation in the Luthor Accords.”

“Kiridians, sir,” Robin corrected, “And as far as we know Raziel’s the first of his people to so much as lay eyes on our solar system, much less live here. And as far as we’re concerned, Raziel is more than welcome to stay with us at Titans Tower.” The general took a moment to think about this, and as he turned to face his window Robin took the opportunity to give Raziel a reassuring wink, along with a stealthy thumbs up.

“When you say, ‘stay with us’...” Miller continued after a moment, turning back to them both, “you’re referring to a long term arrangement, aren’t you? Does that meandoes that mean he’ll be also be joining you in all of your...‘superhero’ shenanigans?” For the first time Robin seemed genuinely puzzled at how to respond, but only for a moment.

“Well, for right now we’re just trying to figure out how to give our friend a home. As far as helping the team…”

The general turned to Raziel. “What kind of alien are you anyways? I see those wings of yours, but what else can you do? Shoot lasers out of your eyes? Acid blood?” Before Raziel even had the opportunity to respond, Dr. Mittal suddenly burst through the door.

“I can answer your questions, General!” the doctor said. He looked quite excited, and he held a manilla folder that was practically exploding with papers, charts, and diagrams. Noticing the terse expression Miller was giving him, Dr. Mittal regained a little of his composure.

“I’m sorry sir, I wasn’t meaning to eavesdrop. I was trying to refrain from interrupting, but that seemed like a really perfect moment to make an entrance and–”

“ _Get on with it, Mittal”_ Miller said.

“Right! Yes, of course.”The doctor jumped a little and, after fumbling a little with his papers he managed to spread a selection of them out across the general’s desk. Raziel noticed strange diagrams of the inside of a body, its organs and bones etched in translucent white across a pitch black page. Seeing the bony framework of two wings jutting from the figure’s back, Raziel realized that he was looking at an image of _himself_.

“As you can see from this X-ray here,” the doctor began,  “Raziel’s physiology is fairly similar to that of a human’s.” Mittal traced his hands along the picture as he explained. “He has the equivalent of both intestines, a stomach, lungs, et cetera. There’s a small organ nestled in between the lungs that I believe is used as a kind of storage and filtration unit, so one might assume that his kind are capable of conserving oxygen for high stress scenarios, like high-altitude flight, and the like.” The doctor looked to Raziel for confirmation, but Raziel could only shrug in return. Biology was not a science he was particularly familiar with.

“Anyways, outside of that the organs seem fairly normal, as does the brain, though obviously it’s impossible to tell after such preliminary scans. What _really_ interests me are the muscle and bones. Now, most winged humanoids require some external means to assist in their flight capabilities, such as the Thanagarian’s Nth metal, but Raziel here seems to be capable of _independent._ When it was repairing his arm, the A.R.E.S noted that his bones seem to be composed of very thin, interlocking fibers that form a sort of honeycomb pattern, microscopically speaking. This makes his entire skeleton both very light _and_ very strong, and combined with a musculature system that’s at least twice as powerful as a normal humans, it means that he can fly around quite a bit with this wings of his, no gravity defying metals or rocket boosters required!”

“So he can fly and take a punch well.” the general said. “Is that it?”

“Well, yes”, Mittal replied. “As far as we know, at least.” The general looked almost disappointed as he turned back to Robin and Raziel.

“That’s it then? You’re not going to be blowing up any buildings with your nuclear breath, or whatever?”

“Well, I am fairly skilled with a blade,” Raziel said. “If you’re concerned about my weapons, though, I can promise you that I would never use them to harm a civilian.” The general shook his head.

“That’s not what I’m talking about. You might not be up to date on Earth history, but I recommend you start brushing up, because not every single visitor from another planet has turned out to be the Boy Scout that Superman is. I don’t care about your bones or your blades. If you ever did decide to cross us, we could put you down easy enough I wager.” When Miller said this, there was a glint in his eye that he found very disquieting. “What I need to know,” Miller continued, “is whether or not you’ve got anything that goes above and beyond what we can see in that X-ray over there. If there’s any kind of laser-blasting, metal-moving, or God-knows-what-kind-of-disaster causing metagene hiding in that DNA of yours, we need to know right now, or you’re not stepping one foot outside of this base.”

“Nothing like that,” Robin finally said, after an tense, extended moment of stillness. “There is _something,_ though…”

* * *

The rest of the Titans were waiting for Robin and Raziel as they came into the Eastern Wing of the Xenobiological Assessment Facility, with Miller and Mittal trailing close behind them. Raziel had finally has his clothes returned to him, and he was pleased to find that whatever technology this strange place held worked well at getting the stink of brine and ocean life out of even alien fabrics. The team stood to greet their leader and their refugee, and Starfire embraced them both with her usual joyousness.

“We were beginning to worry!” she said. “Garfield suggested that you were being given the ‘E.T. Treatment’!”

“I _really_ regret showing you that movie,” Robin said, laughing. As the rest of the Titans gathered around, the General motioned to a group of soldiers waiting just beyond a nearby hall, who arrived carrying Raziel’s swords and Robin’s staff in hand. Another man held a plastic bag in which Raziel’s pendant was placed. The two took back their possessions and the soldiers made their exit, along with Doctor Mittal, leaving the Titans alone with the general.

“So, uh, are we good to go Colonel Mustard?” Beast Boy asked Miller.

“If you call me that again, furball, I’ll have Quarantine shave and delouse you.” Beast Boy laughed nervously, but didn’t say anymore. The general kept his eyes locked on Robin and Raziel. “You can take him in, for now, but this isn’t over. You were all entrusted as representatives of Earth, and the United States government more specifically. I want explicit, detailed answers on what the Hell happened out there, and sooner rather than later. Don’t make me come to you.”

“We want answers just as much as you, General,” Robin said. “We’ll stay in contact.” Robin motioned towards the large metal doors behind them, where Raziel saw the word EXIT posted in green, glowing letters. “Come on, Titans. I’ve called for T-Car, it should be just outside.”

“Thank God!” Beast Boy said as the team made their way to the doors. “I don’t mean to be ‘that guy’, but I haven’t eaten since before our ship turned into a giant death fireball. Can we stop by Randal’s stand on the way to the Tower?”

“With all due respect, Beast Boy”, Raven said, “I don’t want to celebrate our eight our anniversary of not dying by eating those awful tofu dogs.” Beast Boy moaned and the others laughed, and while Raziel didn’t get the joke, he was glad to be in the company of friends again.

“One more thing,” the general called out as the Titans left. “I don’t want your new friend to be causing any trouble on your little missions. The last thing Jump City needs right now is a new alien out there beating the snot out of people instead of the cops. So no heroics from him, not until we’ve got everything sorted out on our end.”

For the first time since they landed, Robin flashed a grin back at Miller. “Don’t worry, General,” he said as the Teen Titans made their way outside, the doors slowly sliding shut behind them. “I promise, we won’t cause any trouble!” Raziel wondered if Robin actually intended to make good that promise.

As it would turn out, Robin managed keep his word for all of forty five minutes.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the most recently finished chapter, though I hope to have Part 5 of this extra-long introductory "episode" done soon. If you're enjoying the story, or have any kind of feedback for the story, please feel free to share your thoughts. See you next time!


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